Ancient Leopard seal – Fossil Animal Back to modern leopard seal Puijila darwini Latin name: Phrygula Puijila dariwini is an extinct carnivorous. it is the ancestor of all seal types or Pinnipeds. (Pinnipeds are Odobenidae, Otariidae and Phocidae .This carnivorous ancestor “Puijila dariwini” have legs that can walk on land. It has a long tail and four legs and it is also known as the walking seal. The leopard seal belongs to the Phocidae family. This was evolved from Puijila Darwini to Pinnipeds (the pinnepeds includes Phocidae the family that leopard seals are in) The evolution of the Puijila Darwini to pinnipeds makes the animal to be a better swimmer and adapt better under water. The Puijila swim in a special stroke with its four legs and the swimming style that is similar to the pinnipeds The Puijila Darwini was about one meter in length excluding the long tail, it have strong and tight muscles that joints strong four legs to its trunk. it look just similar to the modern otter by looking precisely to the fossil, however the skull and the teeth of the Puijila Darwini are similar to seal .The Puijila Darwini’s toe bone were flattened which lead many scientist to suggests that the toes of Puijila Darwini.
Habitat: Puijila Darwini is an extinct carnivorous that lived in the Miocene epoch which existed around 21 to 24 million years ago. It is suggested that the Puijila Darwini lived in the freshwater lakes that are frozen over the winter in the Arctic. The Puijila Darwini had swum in the waters of the Arctic circle proved by the founder of Puijila Darwini. About 23 million years ago, this region was cold with temperate climate, and these conditions triggered the Puijila Darwini to try the coastal environments since they are not a good swimmer. Experts suggested that the location where they used to dwell should be a forested environment with small trees and shrubs among the taller trees. So it is suggested that the Pujila used to live in environment where the climate was humid and cool along the coastal, and the winters were of moderate temperature with some periodic freezing. Diagram of habitat that scientist suggested: Diagram/map of where the fossil of Puijila were found:
Structural Adaptation 1: The Pujiila Darwini is said to have large eyes which allowed them to catch preys under water. As it lived in the dark Arctic, its eyes had adapted to the dark surroundings during winter months to enhance its hunting ability.
This helps the animal to see better during low light condition and catch prey easier during the winter where that region experiences 24-hour darkness. As the Arctic region experiences 24-hour darkness, it is necessary that its eyes adapted to the condition among the years. Its eyes were very large which indicated that it could probably see prey in low light conditions. Other than helping it hunt on land, the eyes also helped them to see well under water.
Structural Adaptation 2: The Puijila Darwini had a "infraorbital foramen" which is a hole beneath the eye that allow the nerves of the whiskers to passes through. The modern leopard seal also have this wide hole “infraorbital foramen” like this. This tells us that the Puijila Darwini also had sensitive whiskers like the modern leopard seals.
The specialized whiskers helped it to detect prey by the sense of touch. The high sensitivity allowed it to detect and track preys even when there was only a slight movement.
As the animal originally only had large eyes to assist its hunting, its structure adapted to the dim-lighted areas surrounding it by developing whiskers to detect movement. It later became extinct as it body structure was well adapted for hunting only but were not enough for defense against its enemy – the whale.
Behavioral Adaptation 1: Puijila Darwini travels back and fourth to coastal areas and the freshwater for food. They hunted on both land and water since they are both terrestrial and both semi-aquatic animal. The terrestrial animals that the Puijila hunt were suggested as rodent and ducks since their residuals were found in the remaining stomach contents that were found along with the Puijila skeleton. The ability to hunt on both land and water allowed Puijila to hunt for more food, not only look for preys in terrestrial area but also freshwater. If the animal only can hunt on coastal areas, or just in freshwater, its food amount will greatly lowered. The environmental pressure that given rise to the adaptation is that during winter, the arctic region experiences 24 hour darkness , in which make it very hard to hunt, since Puijila Darwini is a semi-aquatic predator, they rely on sound, sight and, smell to hunt on land. So they need the ability to hunt under water as well so they can survive better during the winter.
Behavioral adaptation 2: The swimming behavior of Puijila is similar to today’s pinniped lineage which includes leopard seal and suprisiningly; it is totally different to otter. They used their two webbed forefeet and hind feet to swim. However they don’t use their tail for propulsion. This helps the animal to swim faster and also allows it to walk on land. They swim around the arctic to hunt but they hunt on land more than in water, they usually stay on land to hunt since swimming is not their best ability. This helps the animal by not having too much threat predator, according to the estimation of the scientist , they suggested that there are less predator on land than under water which means that , they are safer on land. The environmental pressure that might given rise to this adaptation to stay on land to hunt is that there are more predator under water than on land so this might also lead the Puijila Dawini to hunt on land more since it is not a good swimmer.
Extinction pressure: The Extinction pressure of Puijila Dawini is that the Puijila Dawini adapts both in land and sea since they are not a very good swimmer which is a disadvantage for them cause they can’t hunt easily however they can hunt on lands. Since the land don’t have much prey or animals to hunt during the period that Puijila Dawini exist (Miocene Period) so that they extinct because there are many predators under water and it is very hard for them to escape suggested by the scientists. This is why they evolutes to pinniped which includes the 3 families dobenidae, Otariidae and Phocidae In which leopard seals belongs to Phcidae.
Puijila darwini
Latin name: Phrygula
Puijila dariwini is an extinct carnivorous. it is the ancestor of all seal types or Pinnipeds. (Pinnipeds are Odobenidae, Otariidae and Phocidae .This carnivorous ancestor “Puijila dariwini” have legs that can walk on land. It has a long tail and four legs and it is also known as the walking seal.
The leopard seal belongs to the Phocidae family. This was evolved from Puijila Darwini to Pinnipeds (the pinnepeds includes Phocidae the family that leopard seals are in)
The evolution of the Puijila Darwini to pinnipeds makes the animal to be a better swimmer and adapt better under water. The Puijila swim in a special stroke with its four legs and the swimming style that is similar to the pinnipeds
The Puijila Darwini was about one meter in length excluding the long tail, it have strong and tight muscles that joints strong four legs to its trunk. it look just similar to the modern otter by looking precisely to the fossil, however the skull and the teeth of the Puijila Darwini are similar to seal .The Puijila Darwini’s toe bone were flattened which lead many scientist to suggests that the toes of Puijila Darwini.
scientific
Habitat:
Puijila Darwini is an extinct carnivorous that lived in the Miocene epoch which existed around 21 to 24 million years ago. It is suggested that the Puijila Darwini lived in the freshwater lakes that are frozen over the winter in the Arctic.
The Puijila Darwini had swum in the waters of the Arctic circle proved by the founder of Puijila Darwini. About 23 million years ago, this region was cold with temperate climate, and these conditions triggered the Puijila Darwini to try the coastal environments since they are not a good swimmer.
Experts suggested that the location where they used to dwell should be a forested environment with small trees and shrubs among the taller trees. So it is suggested that the Pujila used to live in environment where the climate was humid and cool along the coastal, and the winters were of moderate temperature with some periodic freezing.
Diagram of habitat that scientist suggested:
Diagram/map of where the fossil of Puijila were found:
Structural Adaptation 1:
The Pujiila Darwini is said to have large eyes which allowed them to catch preys under water. As it lived in the dark Arctic, its eyes had adapted to the dark surroundings during winter months to enhance its hunting ability.
This helps the animal to see better during low light condition and catch prey easier during the winter where that region experiences 24-hour darkness.
As the Arctic region experiences 24-hour darkness, it is necessary that its eyes adapted to the condition among the years. Its eyes were very large which indicated that it could probably see prey in low light conditions. Other than helping it hunt on land, the eyes also helped them to see well under water.
Structural Adaptation 2:
The Puijila Darwini had a "infraorbital foramen" which is a hole beneath the eye that allow the nerves of the whiskers to passes through. The modern leopard seal also have this wide hole “infraorbital foramen” like this. This tells us that the Puijila Darwini also had sensitive whiskers like the modern leopard seals.
The specialized whiskers helped it to detect prey by the sense of touch. The high sensitivity allowed it to detect and track preys even when there was only a slight movement.
As the animal originally only had large eyes to assist its hunting, its structure adapted to the dim-lighted areas surrounding it by developing whiskers to detect movement. It later became extinct as it body structure was well adapted for hunting only but were not enough for defense against its enemy – the whale.
Behavioral Adaptation 1:
Puijila Darwini travels back and fourth to coastal areas and the freshwater for food. They hunted on both land and water since they are both terrestrial and both semi-aquatic animal. The terrestrial animals that the Puijila hunt were suggested as rodent and ducks since their residuals were found in the remaining stomach contents that were found along with the Puijila skeleton.
The ability to hunt on both land and water allowed Puijila to hunt for more food, not only look for preys in terrestrial area but also freshwater. If the animal only can hunt on coastal areas, or just in freshwater, its food amount will greatly lowered.
The environmental pressure that given rise to the adaptation is that during winter, the arctic region experiences 24 hour darkness , in which make it very hard to hunt, since Puijila Darwini is a semi-aquatic predator, they rely on sound, sight and, smell to hunt on land. So they need the ability to hunt under water as well so they can survive better during the winter.
Behavioral adaptation 2:
The swimming behavior of Puijila is similar to today’s pinniped lineage which includes leopard seal and suprisiningly; it is totally different to otter. They used their two webbed forefeet and hind feet to swim. However they don’t use their tail for propulsion. This helps the animal to swim faster and also allows it to walk on land. They swim around the arctic to hunt but they hunt on land more than in water, they usually stay on land to hunt since swimming is not their best ability.
This helps the animal by not having too much threat predator, according to the estimation of the scientist , they suggested that there are less predator on land than under water which means that , they are safer on land.
The environmental pressure that might given rise to this adaptation to stay on land to hunt is that there are more predator under water than on land so this might also lead the Puijila Dawini to hunt on land more since it is not a good swimmer.
Extinction pressure:
The Extinction pressure of Puijila Dawini is that the Puijila Dawini adapts both in land and sea since they are not a very good swimmer which is a disadvantage for them cause they can’t hunt easily however they can hunt on lands. Since the land don’t have much prey or animals to hunt during the period that Puijila Dawini exist (Miocene Period) so that they extinct because there are many predators under water and it is very hard for them to escape suggested by the scientists. This is why they evolutes to pinniped which includes the 3 families dobenidae, Otariidae and Phocidae In which leopard seals belongs to Phcidae.
Bibliography:
"Puijila - Physical Characteristics." SeaWorld/Busch Gardens ANIMALS - HOME. Web. 16 July 2010. <http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/info-books/Puijiala/physical-characteristics.htm>.
Coolantartica , whales, (July 22h , 2010) , retrived 17/07/2010 , from
http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/wildlife/whales/whales.htm
"About the Animal - Puijila: A Prehistoric Walking Seal." Canadian Museum of Nature - Musée Canadien De La Nature. Web. 23 July 2010. <[[http://nature.ca/puijila/aa_e.cfm>."Puijila|http://nature.ca/puijila/aa_e.cfm>.]]
"Puijila, the Walking Seal - a Beautiful Transitional Fossil : Not Exactly Rocket Science." ScienceBlogs. Web. 12 July 2010. <[[http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2009/04/puijila_the_walking_seal_beautiful_transitional_fossil.php>."Puijila Darwini - 'Missing Link' In Evolution Of Seals, Sea Lions And Walruses." Science 2.0 - Official Site of Science 2.0® - The World's Best Scientists, the Internet's Smartest Readers. Web. 23 July 2010. <http://www.science20.com/news_articles/puijila_darwini_missing_link_evolution_seals_sea_lions_and_walruses>.